VULCAN – Citing the fall of liberalism in the planet’s major nation-states and the rise of populist demagoguery in its place, the United Federation of Planets voted today to reject Earth’s membership application.

“We regret that the present socio-political climate on Earth, with its skeptical views towards science, its over-emphasis on wealth accumulation, and its growing rates of race and income inequality, is incompatible with the basic tenets of the Federation,” said UFP President Jaresh-Inyo in a tersely-worded written statement.

Per UFP rules, Earth is disqualified from additional consideration for the next hundred years.

World leaders reacted swiftly to condemn the decision.

“The UFP has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!” tweeted newly inaugurated US President Donald J. Trump.

He was not alone.

“No one wants the UFP to suffer the fate of the League of Planets, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential planets bypass the UFP and take military action without Security Council authorization,” announced Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While Earth-based scientists expressed supreme dismay at the decision, which will prevent them from collaborating with colleagues in more advanced civilizations, others moved swiftly to profit from the turn of events.

“We have made inquiries with Viceroy Nute Gunray and Senator Palpatine about joining the Trade Federation,” announced incoming Secretary of State Rex Tillerman.

CHICAGO The latest mock drafts show that analysts almost unanimously think the Republican Party will use its first round pick to draft a presidential candidate with broad-based appeal, according to the ESPN Draft Tracker.

“You always want to find a future hall-of-famer on Day One,” declared draft guru Mel Kiper. “This is a passing league, and the Republicans don’t have an obvious signal-caller that can lead the team down the field this fall.”

Sports Illustrated football expert Peter King pointed to the GOP’s dearth of young talent. “Marco Rubio was supposed to be the face of the franchise, and that hasn’t worked out. They’re in desperate need of a youth infusion.”

SYRIA – In a rare public address, self-appointed ISIS caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi today declared that Republican primary front-runner billionaire Donald Trump, his increasingly totalitarian positions on Islamic tolerance, and his tens of millions of rabid American supporters have inadvertently become ISIS’s most potent source of new devotees.

“As Muslim youth across the Middle East and Europe awaken to the reality that the West, as embodied by Mr. Trump, does not want them, we have enjoyed an influx of impressionable young men and women eager to die for our cause that we haven’t seen since the last Crusade,” explained the internationally wanted terrorist leader.

“Allah be praised!” added the caliph.

Yesterday Donald Trump, who leads the Republican field as the nomination day grows closer, released a written statement in which he called for an immediate and open-ended national ban on immigration by persons of the Muslim faith.

Today Trump defended his position, citing the precedent set during World War II when the United States unlawfully and unnecessarily imprisoned tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans in internment camps.

WASHINGTON, D.C.At midnight the United States Congress allowed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to expire, officially ending health care benefits to those who attempted to rescue victims of the infamous 9/11 attacks at the former site of the World Trade Center in New York City, NY.

“Look, only 20 people were pulled out of the rubble following the 9/11 attacks,” explained Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the presumptive successor to John Boehner as speaker of the House. “Those are pathetically low numbers, and a big part of the reason why we’re letting this ridiculous government handout expire.”

“We’re not here to provide freebies to the very people whose incompetence prevented a more effective emergency response,” declared Steve Scalise (R-LA), the majority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives. “Did you read the 9/11 Commission Report? I did. The NYPD, NYFD and other local agencies that were first on the scene were under-equipped, underprepared, untrained, and altogether ineffective.”

“The United States government does not subsidize losers,” concluded the prominent federal elected official.

“The alleged terrorist attacks of 9/11 were a hoax, and we applaud the United States Congress for making an important first step towards embracing this sad fact,” said representatives of the controversial Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth. “There were no courageous acts of selflessness on the part of first responders on 9/11,” explained the fringe group. “Just a bunch of idiots who didn’t get the memo.”

Opponents of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act were quick to point out that the best way to discourage future occurrences of bravery and altruistic behavior in the face of life-threatening danger in the heat of an unprecedented international crisis is to make it plain that such acts will in no way, shape or form be tolerated by the government of the United States of America.

“The people have spoken,” concluded Luke Messer (R-IN), the Republican Policy Committee Chairman. “And the people have zero patience for 9/11 first responders.”

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Rifle Association (NRA) announced today that it has received a huge cash infusion to support its ongoing social experiment in which firearms are made freely available to the 300 million citizens of a first-world nation.

“We’ve already accomplished a great deal, and we’re very excited about what we can do with the additional funding,” explained lead researcher Dr. Jethro Austin Dylan as a power point presentation showed slides of barely regulated gun shows, children unwrapping semi-automatic weapons under Christmas trees, and the sobbing relatives of deceased shooting victims in the unnamed Western country that is the subject of the study.

When asked what tipped the scales in favor of being awarded the grant NRA scientists pointed out the success of artificially inducing a climate of regular mass-shootings and rampant anti-government paranoia.

“One of the key milestones in the Phase II portion of the study was the widespread escalation of ‘castle doctrine’ laws, which have a very limited application, into ‘stand your ground’ laws, which are nearly universal in scope,” explained Dr. Dylan.

Another important factor cited was the incredible success the research team has enjoyed in keeping the citizens of the first-world nation involved in the study completely in the dark about the fact that they are active participants in possibly the largest and most dangerous sociological experiment ever conducted.

“I mean, guns are in the top levels of government, they’re in the news 24/7, they’re all over the streets, and nobody’s caught on,” gushed Dr. Dylan. “We can’t wait to see what happens in Phase III!” concluded the prominent social scientist.

CORUSCANT In a landmark announcement today the Galactic Senate announced that it would launch an unprecedented inquiry into the wardrobe requirements for female members of the Jedi Order.

“They’re supposed to be zen-like ascetics who forswear material possessions and personal attachments, but for some reason they’re all dressed up like Mos Eisley whores,” said Naboo Senator Padme Amidala, chair of the gender equality committee.

The investigation follows on a series of recent scandals in which female Jedi have increasingly been the victims of voyeuristic amateur photographers who have published their work on pornographic websites.

“An online image search for Ahsoka Tano or Aayla Secura yields results that are, shall we say, not safe for work,” Senator Amidala further opined. “What kind of example are these professionals setting?”

Aside from dress code, the senate inquiry will also seek to ascertain why there appear to be no female Jedi over the age of 24.

The Jedi Council refused to comment, citing the need to consult with The Force.

At press time, notorious gangster Jabba the Hutt has volunteered to receive all female Jedi uniforms deemed too revealing for further service.

WASHINGTON, D.C. Speaking from the White House garage, a clearly exasperated President Obama scolded Congress for giving him a 3/4″ wrench when he asked for a 5/8″ wrench.

“Are you even paying attention? It says what it is right on the [expletive] thing,” said the leader of the free world.

Further angered by the blank look on Congress’s face the President escalated his tirade.

“Maybe if you got off your [expletive] iPhone and focused for like one [expletive] second you could actually accomplish something useful for once,” bellowed the nation’s 44th executive.

“Or maybe you think a 14% approval rating is a good thing?” screamed America’s de facto father figure. “You know when I was your age I had a friend with 14% scores and now he’s unemployed and smokes skunk weed he got for giving handjobs behind a 7-11 back in Hyde Park. Is that what you want?”

“I said IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT???!!!” screamed the President of the United States at the top of his lungs.

At press time, sources confirmed that the President had grabbed the 5/8″ wrench himself and wheeled himself back under the car he was fixing, muttering that he “would just do it [him]self.”

This is the biggest hardware error Congress has made since President Obama asked the legislative branch for a ball peen hammer and they sent him a government shutdown instead.

NORTH BERGEN, NJ Following the tragic and untimely death of Kimberly Lyall, area man Rod Polson has started referring to her as his “girlfriend” despite the two having only sparingly engaged in casual sex, according to sources with knowledge of the situation .

“Just last week I was at a party with Rod [Polson] and I asked him if he had anything going on and he was like ‘nah man’,” said friend and fellow Pizza Hut employee Steve Boswell. “Now he’s all like, ‘my girlfriend’s gone’ and shit.”

“I mean, they met on Tinder,” concluded Boswell.

Relatives confirmed that at a recent family gathering Polson announced that he was feeling sad at the sudden death of his “girlfriend,” despite no member of the family having ever met Kimberly Lyall or being able to remember Polson having talked about her.

Sources close to Polson suggested that the posthumous promotion may be a calculated move intended to create sympathy.

“Last night I was hanging out with Rod and these two chicks from CrossFit and he was acting all bummed about [Kimberly Lyall] and the chicks were like all over him with hugs and shit,” said a friend who wished to remain anonymous.

“They were hot, yo,” concluded the source.

This is the second time Polson has awarded a posthumous promotion, the first being in 1998 when deceased cousin Jack Sadelnop was named a “brother” despite their only having seen each other twice annually, at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

WASHINGTON, D.C. As exit poll data continues to pour in from voters all over the country one trend is beginning to emerge: wealthy Caucasians males are establishing a significant lead.

“Pretty much in every race across the boards we’re seeing strong correlative factors emerging in the numbers,” said poll analyst Robert Graves from Quinnipiac University. “Specifically, for the most part, the winners today will be white men with major financial resources.”

However, pollsters were quick to caution media outlets that a tremendous amount of variability lay within the seemingly homogeneous data.

“Whiteness, for example, is a relative term,” explained Delores von Schnoopenhauser of the influential think tank America Is For Americans. “Within the supermajority political establishment of electorally triumphant Caucasians we find a startling variance that includes everything from deeply tanned to quite pasty.”

“It’s a veritable smorgasbord of diversity,” continued von Schnoopenhauser.

At press time, newly minted lawmakers were hastily composing proposals to redefine voting districts to ensure even more rich white men will be competitive in future elections.